Boycotts have questionable value as a diplomatic tool. The limited boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in the Soviet Union had little impact on the Communist government, other than to inspire a revenge boycott of the Los Angeles Games four years later. The only real damage was to the athletes who missed a chance to compete.

Sanctions, if broad enough, can be effective, as is evident from Iran’s eagerness to end those imposed by western governments upset at its nuclear aspirations. But to produce a useful result generally requires a well-organized and prolonged campaign targeted at recognized points of vulnerability and applied with discipline.

None of those traits are met by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s one-man boycott of the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka next month.

Mr. Harper revealed his plan on Monday while attending a different summit, of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, in Indonesia. Referring to an array of human rights concerns — including reports of intimidation of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, disappearances, and extra-judicial killings — he said: “In the past two years we have not only seen no improvement in these areas, in almost all of these areas we’ve seen a considerable rolling back, a considerable worsening of the situation. ”

In addition to skipping the summit, he said, Ottawa will review $20 million in funding to Commonwealth programs and the secretariat that runs it.

“It is clear that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values,” he said. “Canada believes that if the Commonwealth is to remain relevant it must stand in defence of the basic principles of freedom, democracy, and respect for human dignity.”

There is little dispute that human rights abuses remain plentiful in Sri Lanka, more than four years after the end of its civil war. An Amnesty International report last year said detentions and torture remain “routine.” Just this month the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, denounced the government’s lack of action in the face of repeated warnings, noting she was “particularly alarmed at the recent surge in incitement of hatred and violence against religious minorities, including attacks on churches and mosques, and the lack of swift action against the perpetrators.”

But while there is real cause for alarm, Mr. Harper’s absence from the summit will do little to remedy the situation. It also suggests a lack of uniformity in how Ottawa applies its views on rights. China, which Mr. Harper gave the cold shoulder early in his mandate, has done little to improve its record, yet has been embraced as a major trade partner and investor in Canada. Mr. Harper showed no reluctance to attend a G-20 gathering in St. Petersburg last month, despite Moscow’s well-documented abuses, and its ongoing support for the murderous regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

It may be that Ottawa considers its membership in the Commonwealth as expendable. There is little to the organization other than as a talking shop for 54 countries that were once coloured British pink on a map. But while the Commonwealth may not be the most dynamic institution on the face of the Earth, it’s not the most expensive or egregious, either. The UN itself has amply demonstrated its ongoing haplessness in crisis after crisis, the Syrian civil war being the most recent. Canada continues to send pricey delegations to the usual round of global get-togethers, from the Francophonie to the G-20, despite any measurable return on the high cost of such delegations. If Canada wants to prune its annual expenditure on summits, it could find much bigger savings elsewhere.

The prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, both conservative leaders, say they have every intention of attending the Colombo summit. “If we decided you were going to have to meet New Zealand standards to attend a meeting, there’d be lots of countries we wouldn’t go to,” said John Key, leader of New Zealand’s National Party government. Tony Abbott, a right-winger recently elected to power in Australia, noted: “You do not make new friends by rubbishing your old friends or abandoning your old friends.”

The Commonwealth has largely been a friend to Canada, in which it has been a leading and influential member . It seems particularly perverse that Mr. Harper, who has been lampooned for his affection for the monarchy and Canada’s historic ties to Great Britain, would choose the organization known to be close to the heart of The Queen, who made a point of attending every Commonwealth summit until age and the strain of travel became a factor. This year she is sending Prince Charles in her place.

Canada is not even sending Foreign Minister John Baird, as Mr. Harper did last week to show his lack of regard for the UN General Assembly. Instead Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to Mr. Baird will attend. His voice will carry little clout in a room crowded with other leaders. Mr. Harper is sacrificing a forum in which Canada’s voice had real force, in the apparent belief that silence will work better instead. It rarely does.

In the wake of a Grammy Awards ceremony that disappointed many, from Kanye West to the masses on Twitter lamenting the state of pop music, a historical perspective is key. Few are better poised to offer one than Andy Kim.